Bryan Singer Steps Down as ‘Legion’ Executive Producer

Filmmaker Bryan Singer has asked to have his name removed as an executive producer on the X-Men–themed series Legion ahead of the show’s second season. The show’s creator and executive producer, Noah Hawley, confirmed the news to Deadline.

The website’s sources claim that Singer made the decision after accusations of alleged sexual misconduct surfaced recently. A rep for Singer did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Singer was one of three people who’d worked on Hollywood X-Men adaptations to have his name on the series. Hawley said that Singer had had little input on the show. “Really, he was just a name on the screen,” the showrunner said.

Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn told Deadline that the company was “looking into” Singer’s role as an executive producer on another X-Men–focused show, The Gifted, in light of the allegations. Because Singer directed the series’ pilot, he is contractually entitled to an executive producer title.

Last month, a lawsuit alleged that Singer had sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy in Washington State in 2003; the accuser, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, claimed that Singer had promised him acting roles in exchange for silence. Previously, another man, Michael Egan III, filed a civil suit against the director, claiming Singer had drugged him and forced him to have sex at parties in California and Hawaii when he was a teenager; the suit was dismissed when the plaintiff admitted he’d never left the mainland. Singer’s lawyer released a statement categorically denying both Sanchez-Guzman’s and Egan’s accusations. “We are confident that this case will turn out the same way the Egan case did,” the attorney said. “And once Bryan prevails, he will pursue his own claims for malicious prosecution.”

Previously, teenage boys had filed civil suits against Singer, alleging he’d forced them to strip naked for a shower scene in the movie Apt Pupil. The Los Angeles District Attorney found no wrongdoing and the suits were dismissed, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In other news, Singer was recently fired from the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. At the time, there were rumors that he’d had arguments on set with star Rami Malek, but he issued a statement refuting that claim and said that the dismissal was related to his absences while dealing with one of his parents’ “health issues.”